55% of Germans want Ukraine to join NATO: YouGov poll
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29% of Germans state they are strongly against Ukraine's accession to NATO, which comes 1 week ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walks during the Independence Day military parade in Kiev, Ukraine, Aug. 24, 2021. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP)
A YouGov poll commissioned by German news agency dpa revealed on Saturday that over half of the German population favor Ukraine's accession to NATO, while around a third oppose it.
55% of respondents supported Ukraine's accession and 42% favored it only after the end of the war in Ukraine. On the other hand, 13% stated that they agreed with its immediate accession to NATO amid the ongoing war.
Meanwhile, 29% of Germans stated they were strongly against Ukraine's accession to NATO.
Earlier last month, Ihor Zhovkva, the Deputy Head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, said on June 11 that 20 NATO member countries have supported Ukraine's membership in the US-led military alliance, pending the approval, if any, of the remaining states.
In September 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine was applying to be fast-tracked to join NATO.
Read next: NATO to agree on Ukraine accession, but only 1-2 years after war: MoD
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In early June, Zelenskyy said Kiev hoped to receive a clear invitation to join the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on July 11-12, and added that he was disappointed that his country did not yet receive a clear and positive response about joining both the European Union and NATO.
The Wall Street Journal reported in May that NATO's anticipated July summit in Lithuania will reportedly entail no progress on Kiev's bid to membership in the military bloc. While the summit will include extensive proposals for increasing support to Kiev, Ukraine's long-desired bid for NATO membership is reportedly off the agenda, the newspaper said.
NATO agreed in 2008 that Ukraine "would become" a member, but no timetable or path was offered. Allies are presently negotiating the wording of a summit declaration on Ukraine's future membership, with a rift between primarily eastern states seeking an ambitious vow and a group led by the US and Germany that is hesitant.
Read next: Ukraine's NATO accession cannot begin during war: Czech President
